Žingvellir National Park and Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Plant

Tours
cancelled: destination has become victim of trash-tourism

We start this tour by travelling eastwards along the "Lineroad", (so-called
after the huge hotwater pipeline which straddles it), heading for Dyradalur pass
in the Hengillinn mountain range. The area which we will be crossing has been
hit by some unexpected tremours and earthquakes in recent weeks which the geologists
believe to be linked to magma intrusions underneath the Hengill central volcanic
system. Dyradalur is renowned for it's windshaped rock formations and on the
other side of it we will arrive at a platform from which there is a panoramic
view over the Nesjavellir
power plant, the countless fumaroles and hotsprings in the area and over the
lake Žingvallavatn itself.
Once we have had a close-up look at the power plant , the steaming boreholes and
the ongoing work to enlarge the plant, we will proceed northwards, along the shores
of the lake to a place called Jórukleif, which offers an incomparable view over
the lake and especially towards the two volcanic islands, Nesjaey
and Sandey, which adourn it. Soon thereafter, we will arrive at the Žingvellir
National Park, Iceland's first, and proceed to the Almannagjį
panoramic viewpoint which is the best place the country to observe the effects
which the drift of the continents, along the Mid-Atlantic ridge, has had on the
earth's crust. We will then walk down the rift towards the site of the old Icelandic
Parliament, the Alžing, which was founded here in the year 930 A.D. We will
then round off this tour by driving around the northern shores of the lake, past
the hydro-electric powerplants on the river Sogiš, towards the greenhouse village
of Hveragerši, where we can switch to a more favorable climate by going to see
the flowering tropical plants at the greenhouse Eden. Another interesting
possibility would be to go and relax in the natural sauna bath at the Hveragerši
swimming pool, which is one of the country's best.